1. Field
A conductive paste, and an electronic device and a solar cell including an electrode formed using the conductive paste, are disclosed.
2. Description of the Related Art
A solar cell is a photoelectric conversion device that transforms solar energy into electrical energy. Solar cells have attracted much attention as a potentially infinite and pollution-free next generation energy source.
A solar cell includes p-type and n-type semiconductors. A solar cell produces electrical energy when an electron-hole pair (“EHP”) is produced by light absorbed in photoactive layers of the semiconductors, the EHP is transferred to the n-type and p-type semiconductors, and then the EHP is collected in electrodes of the solar cell.
A solar cell desirably has as high efficiency as possible to produce electrical energy from solar energy. In order to improve this efficiency, the solar cell desirably absorbs light with minimum loss, so that it may produce as many electron-hole pairs as possible, and then collects the produced charges without loss.
An electrode for a solar cell may be fabricated using a deposition method, which may be complicated, expensive, and take a long time. Accordingly, a simpler method of screen-printing a conductive paste including a conductive material has been suggested.
A commercially available conductive paste includes a conductive powder and glass frit. However, the glass frit has a high resistivity and thus limits the conductivity of an electrode.
Thus there remains a need for an improved conductive paste suitable for manufacturing an electrode for a solar cell.